Dramatic First Paragraph Writing Competition Winner

This competition required writers to produce a dramatic first paragraph that would glue us to the page, congratulations go to:

1st Prize: £100 Michelle Harvey

2nd Prize: £50 P. England

Life and Darkness – Michelle Harvey

There was no mistake. The child was dead, definitely dead.
Hayley didn’t know what to do, it hurt to breathe, to swallow and to think.
Confusion swirled around her, she felt sick to the pit of her stomach. Somewhere
deep inside her, there was the idea that she should call an ambulance and the
police but somehow, her feet were rooted to the floor, the lifeless body of her
niece sprawled in the cot in front of her. Hot tears surged down Hayley’s face.
How could she bring herself to tell her sister that her precious baby had died
on the one and only night she had been persuaded to go out? And then another
thought popped unbidden into her head, what if Kirsty found out that Carter had
been here in the house….tonight?